The duplicity and hypocrisy of the mainstream media coverage of politicians, based on party affiliation, could not have been more in evidence than it was this past week. New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s scandal was trumpeted across the headlines this week as if it were a five alarm fire, while much more serious scandals with national implications are often hardly reported at all.

It was revealed this week that members of Christie’s staff had intentionally closed four lanes of George Washington Bridge, connecting Manhattan to Fort Lee, New Jersey. Christie’s staff closed the lanes for four days to create a traffic quagmire to punish Fort Lee’s mayor, Mark Sokolich, for not endorsing Christie in his bid for reelection as New Jersey’s governor.

In a two hour, nationally televised press conference, Christie admitted he was “blind sided” by the revelation, and had no prior knowledge of the scheme. Ensuring that someone was held accountable, Christie fired his two aides complicit in the plan.

There are two aspects of this narrative that are immensely disturbing. The first is the media reaction to the story. According to Media Research Center, “In less than 24 hours, the three networks have devoted 17 times more coverage to a traffic scandal involving Chris Christie than they allowed on Barack Obama’s Internal Revenue Service controversy.” MRC documented 34 minutes and 28 seconds of coverage by ABC, CBS, and NBC dedicated to the Christie scandal, versus a scant “two minutes and eight seconds for the IRS targeting of Tea Party groups” over the past six months.

To a reasonable person, the story of potential political bullying by a governor, closing lanes on a bridge, can in nowise be 17 times more significant than a president who uses the most onerous agency of the federal government to do his bullying against his political enemies. To a reasonable and rational electorate, the obvious bias in reporting would cause a mass exodus from the mainstream media until they started reporting accurately and with equitability, without regard for party affiliation.

The media have been raising the question whether Christie can be believed when he claims he knew nothing about it. Yet they are unsurprisingly reticent when it comes to Obama’s inexorable “I didn’t know about it until I read it in the paper” soliloquies he employs to excuse his and his administration’s irresponsibility.

In fact, the mainstream media have been AWOL in reporting just the few foibles and lies listed here: “I will have the most transparent administration in history”; “The stimulus will fund shovel-ready jobs”; “I am focused like a laser on creating jobs”; “The IRS is not targeting anyone”; “It was a spontaneous riot about a movie”; “The public will have five days to look at every bill that lands on my desk”; “It’s the previous president’s fault”; “Whistle blowers will be protected in my administration”; “I am not spying on American citizens”; “It’s just like shopping at Amazon”; “I knew nothing about ‘Fast and Furious’”; “I knew nothing about what happened in Benghazi”; and perhaps the best of all, “I will restore trust in government.” If any of these claims had been uttered by our previous president, the press would still be harping on them.

After the copious media coverage of this event, the second most disturbing element is the public reaction. A resident of Fort Lee and one of Christie’s constituents, Robert Tessaro, raised a valid point. He said, “I hope this continues to haunt him. No matter what he knew and didn’t know, these were his people and the culture he created in the state, and it’s not right.”

If that principle applies to Christie, a state executive, shouldn’t it apply even more aptly with the executive leader of our nation? Why are so few of Obama’s constituents raising the same question? Why is Obama exempted from culpability in the creation of a culture of corruption and incompetence in the executive branch?

It was refreshing to actually see someone held accountable for something in government, as Christie dismissed those involved with what is now being dubbed “Bridgegate.” We have witnessed so many faux pas, blunders, mistakes, and outright lies over the past five years at the national level; and there has been little accountability. When people are hired, especially for the public good, and they, by their actions, tarnish the people’s trust in their integrity and competence, they should be held accountable.

Here are just a few of those who have contributed to the culture of corruption at the national level, by deceit and obfuscation, and have not been held accountable: Eric Holder, Timothy Geithner, Van Jones, Susan Rice, Lois Lerner, Hillary Clinton, and Kathleen Sibelius. In fact, books have been written documenting the culture of corruption in the White House. If Christie is to be responsible for the culture in his administration, shouldn’t Obama be held accountable for his, especially considering the gravity, breadth, and impact of the latter?

Holding a position of public trust requires responsibility and accountability. Not only has very little been shouldered by this administration, but also the media have done little to hold them accountable. It shouldn’t be too much to ask for the media to be equitable and fair in their coverage of elected officials, irrespective of party affiliation. And we, the people, should demand it of them!

Associated Press award winning columnist Richard Larsen is President of Larsen Financial, a brokerage and financial planning firm in Pocatello, Idaho and is a graduate of Idaho State University with degrees in Political Science and History and coursework completed toward a Master’s in Public Administration. He can be reached at rlarsenen@cableone.net.

Comments

I'm not a Christie fan but if he won thenomination he'd be better then that homely old dried up bag Hitlary.Now as far as the press goes when he was kissing the Sand Monkeys ass the press loved him ,when he didn't pick a republican to fill a late senators term the press loved him.Now they got a chance to stick a fork in the fat boy they all got their forks ready.

As a person, I like Christie. I even think he's doing a good job as Gov. of New Jersey.
Having said that, in no way would I vote for him for President.

While I prefer to see him over the bitch, I couldn't, in good conscience, vote for the RINO.
The ONLY reason demoncraps are pushing for him is because if it's between him or the hag, it's a win-win for them.
Not much difference between the two.

They all have the same objective.Wiping there asses on our Constitution.That's the major problem they all have.We need a real person to run one who isn't drunk on power.Hilary is a witch and Christie is a thug.They both really Stink.That's gonna be our choices for real?Kinda the best of a bad lot vote.

The standard rule for handling bad news in politics is to get it all out at once, like Christie did. The worst thing to do is allow the bad news to dribble out, for days, weeks, months, years, presidential terms? This is what Obliar has done for over a decade of controversies and scandals, so far, it’s worked like a charm, because of the lying MSM and that Americans have the attention span of a baby gnat. So, why should Obtraitor change? Delay it, Derail it, Ignore it. Dismiss it. Dissemble it to death. Didn’t know about it. Point at others. Have others point at others. Have others suggest the criticism is really racial. Stay aloof. Stretch the whole thing out as long as possible. Then call every ensuing question old news, that you’ve discussed it many times, or that it is just a phony scandal. Hope the problem goes away. And it usually has for Oblivious. Based on the history of such an immoral man, we will never get the answer unless Obackstabber is water-boarded or some honest people that are not under polygraph tests come forward, like Gates, but then their lives are destroyed by Obama Chicago style politics. Just ask Ham or Roberts, who are being blackmailed. Or ask Breitbart, who was going to properly vet Obhustler before the 2012 election, and what did he get, death!
Now we have the scenario of what will he do with the ongoing Obamacarelessjobkiller debacle and his sinking polls. Obigbrother will halt all coverage using MSM lapdogs, report only on evil Republicans and idiot Tea Party terrorists. Lie about insurance policies and doctors that wont be kept, break promises to reduce costs (to the price of a phone bill), and just lie more and more. Then, blame shift and accuse everyone of intentionally causing trouble. Now announce a new program to force youth to buy health insurance that now threats to consume him. Soros-funded operatives will help demonize the Tea Party, and revive of the War on Women, along with efforts to worsen race relations by encouraging tensions to violence and riots in the streets. Obama (after just taking another multi-million dollar vacation) will demonize the super rich on the Right. The tactics will involve the usual: accusations of racism, corporate greed, narrow self-interest to the exclusion of the poor and dispossessed, condemnations of senators and representatives accused of being corporate shills, accusations that Republicans and Tea Party individuals only want to destroy Obama because they are so filled with hate and racism, accusations the Republicans hate the poor and don’t have a plan of their own, Fox will be singled out for special treatment, and doctors will become the new whipping post as well as other players in the healthcare industry. The banner: Hope & Change is still alive, follow the Fearless Leader: do not let the criminal rich rob the poor again! The ultimate question: will the American people walk into this grisly trap again?